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Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Chocolate Sugar Cookies...

We've had some doozies lately for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day and we thought it would be good to take it down a notch with a not-too-complicated treat for a change. However, we couldn't just do a plain cookie, now could we? Jeff suggested some sort of sugar cookie and I liked that idea, but wanted to go one step further and give these Chocolate Sugar Cookies a try!

You have a couple options when you make the dough - as we made it, we used shortening, which gives the cookies structure and texture. I know not everyone is a fan and if you would rather not use it, an equal amount of butter can be substituted - however, note that they will tend to be thinner as the butter will make them spread more. They will also run a bit crispier throughout, where as if you opt for shortening, these cookies will be softer (not in a cake-y sense, though) with a bit more chew to them in the center, yet still retain a crispness around the edge.

You don't have to do this next step, but to lift the chocolaty-ness of the cookies, I added just a half teaspoon of instant espresso powder into the dough. It won't be enough to give you a buzz or make them taste like a cup of coffee, but it works as a megaphone to amp up the more subtle and underrated tones of the chocolate. The recipe actually had "Giant" in the title, but we decided to go with smaller cookies, using a generous heaping tablespoon cookie scoop to measure out the dough - if you want them as large as your head, dish out the dough with a large 2 1/2" scooper and add several minutes to the bake time.

As with most chocolate cookies, checking for doneness isn't always as visual as it is with a pale dough. Your best bet is to rely on touch and your nose - they were done for us when the edges of the cookies were firm and the rich smell of chocolate was pouring out of the oven. I liked that these thick cookies were not so decadent that you only get through half before it became too much, but they were also not so plain that they needed frosting to make them enjoyable - a tasty balance between ordinary and extraordinary! If you would like to exaggerate the cracks on top, roll the dough balls through a drift of granulated sugar just before baking.

Just a helpful tip — If you're going to use only butter, shorten the cooking time to 10 minutes. I initially made a batch and cooked it for 14 minutes, but they spread out way too much and were too crispy. I made a second batch and shortened the cooking time to 10 minutes, and they came out perfectly!